Authorities with China’s Administration for Industry and Commerce have uncovered 22 additional fake Apple Store outlets in Kunming, the largest city in the Yunnan Province, Reuters reported on Thursday. Kunming is where a blog named BirdAbroad first revealed the existence of unofficial Apple Stores that posed as the real deal. In late July Chinese officials closed down two of the stores for lacking business licenses, but allowed others to remain open because they have licenses to trade and sell genuine Apple products. Now, the stores are being forced to remove Apple’s official logo after Apple China accused them of violating its trademark. The Administration for Industry and Commerce will setup a hotline in an effort to catch more illegal stores. More →

A personal travel blog titled BirdAbroad recently published a story and photos detailing fake Apple Stores that have started to pop up in China. A few such stores exist in Kunming, the largest city in the Yunnan Province, and employees have faked the real Apple Store atmosphere so well that a number of Chinese residents believe the stores are legitimate outlets. Several of the customers are now furious after hearing the truth. “When I heard the news I rushed here immediately to get the receipt, I am so upset,” a near teary-eyed customer surnamed Wang told Reuters. “With a store this big, it looks so believable who would have thought it was fake?” Wang reportedly bought an iPhone 3G and a 13-inch MacBook Pro last month for a total of $2,170, but was not issued a receipt. “Where’s my receipt, you promised me my receipt last month!” Wang yelled at the store’s employees, before “being whisked away to an upstairs room,” Reuters said. Members of the staff, who are outfitted with blue shirts and Apple name tags, believe that they are real Apple employees. The Wall Street Journal was able to reach one Kungming staff member by phone. “It doesn’t make much of a difference for us whether we’re authorized or not,” the staffer said. “I just care that what I sell every day are authentic Apple products, and that our customers don’t come back to me to complain about the quality of the products.” Apple has yet to respond to the reports. Read on for a few more images of the fake Kunming store taken by BirdAbroad. More →